Man caught at station waiting for boy for sex

A paedophile, who shared videos of himself abusing a boy and was caught waiting to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old boy for sex, has been jailed.

Christopher Hodgson, 46, was actually meeting an undercover police officer when he arranged the meeting at Newcastle Central Station on 22 January, the city's crown court heard.

He also had a stash of images, including of a four-month-old baby being abused, collected several years earlier in Cumbria, and sent videos of him abusing a teenager to other men.

Hodgson admitted 14 offences including making, taking and distributing indecent images of children and attempting to meet a child following grooming. He was jailed for seven years.

Hodgson was first arrested in June 2021 after reports he had assaulted a teenage boy at a hotel in Blackpool, prosecutor Saba Shan said.

Police seized two phones from him on which they found 15 indecent images of children, including nine in the most serious category featuring the abuse of a four-month-old baby and rape of a two-year-old child, the court heard.

Images of bestiality and adults were also found among his stash which "demonstrated the depths of depravity that excited [Hodgson's] interest", judge Julie Clemitson said.

Messages found on his phone showed Hodgson, who was living in Cumbria at the time, had sent videos, including of him sexually abusing a teenage boy, to at least three other people, the court heard.

He also discussed raping babies and abusing children, the judge said.

Hodgson was not charged until November 2024 when he admitted indecent images offences at Carlisle Magistrates' Court, the court heard.

He was therefore on court bail when he started messaging who he thought was a 14-year-old boy on SnapChat in mid-December, Ms Shan said.

Over the following month, Hodgson, who was living in Newcastle by that time, sent videos of himself performing sex acts and encouraged the boy to meet him, the court heard.

Hodgson told him he "could not wait" to get together and he was "up for anything", adding he would make it "fun and sexy" for the 14-year-old.

The pair arranged to meet at the ticket barrier at Newcastle Central's Metro Station at 09:20 GMT on 22 January, but when Hodgson turned up he was met by police.

Judge Clemitson said it was clear Hodgson had a "settled intention" to "go through" with abusing the child.

In relation to his haul of images, the judge said it was "impossible for most people" to understand how watching "such horrific abuse of such vulnerable children could possibly provide any sort of gratification".

She said by providing a "customer base" for such images, Hodgson and others like him were "encouraging further such depravity" and "unimaginable damage" to real children.

That damage was "amplified" by the knowledge the images of their abuse were available online "to anyone anywhere in the world forever", the judge said.

Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.